Ken Loach's Route Irish is one of the films in competition for this year's Palme d'Or. His longtime collaborator and writer, Paul Laverty, reveals how their drama about security contractors in Iraq was born

Embattled security company Blackwater, which became known as the privatised face of warfare in Iraq, faces new legal difficulties after its former president and four other former employees were charged with federal weapons charges

Under intense questioning from Democrats on Wednesday, the state department inspector general admitted that his brother is an adviser to security company Blackwater after having denied the family tie earlier in his testimony

The US security company Blackwater promised today that any of its guards complicit in wrongdoing will be held to account after FBI investigators were reported to have concluded the fatal shooting of 14 Iraqis was unjustified.